On October 9, 2018, USA today published an article about pop star Taylor Swift’s recent Instagram post endorsing two Democratic congressional nominees and encouraging fans to register to vote. This obviously created quite the stir on the internet.
Although the newspaper itself was unbias in reporting and didn’t praise or condemn Taylor’s actions, the story did report on both sides of reactions that she was receiving.
While many of her fans appreciated the fact that she is openly supporting and standing up for women’s and LGBTQ rights, there are also many people attacking her, saying that she should stick to music rather than taking political stances. Regardless of political preference, Taylor Swift was able to (according to Vote.org) generate a surge of over 65,000 people registering to vote within 24 hours of her post. This is extremely important in itself, especially because her fan base is among the youngest generation with the smallest voter turn out.
As part Taylor Swift’s PR team in this case, I don’t think she made a mistake at all. It seems like her personal views align with much of her audience’s ideals, and they have been waiting for her to use her platform to stand up for what they believe in. I believe that in order to shut down any negative backlash that she may still be receiving, I think it would be beneficial for her to use Vote.org’s statistics and show how her post made a significant impact on voter registration. Additionally, as her original post already stated, I think she should again point out the fact that she was simply stating who she was voting for, not telling people that they should do the same. Her post was to encourage her audience to do research on candidates and vote for someone “who shares your values.”
In this time in history for women, I think it is extremely important for Taylor to stand strong by what she said and not accept the ridicule she may get for doing this. Taylor Swift’s entire career and history of media coverage is the perfect case study of unfair treatment of women in business, and I think she can capitalize on this to possibly create her own women empowerment campaign.
I agree, Swift should not have to hide her political affiliation or beliefs just because she is someone of major influence. She should stick to her guns, as it will prove her unwavering strength as opposed to hiding how she feels.
I agree with you that Taylor Swift should be entitled to have a political opinion, as we all are in the U.S. That is one of the greatest things about living in a democratic society, is that we all get to form opinions. I think most celebrities have opinions about politics. I think the reason why this story is so big is because of her impact on voter registration, which she is allowed to promote.
I don’t think this will have an impact on her career or public image. However, I do agree that in general, celebrities should stay out of political matters because it just causes issues and further divide in the country.
I think that most celebrities have opinions on politics. However, each one chooses to share them differently. I don’t think this will have an impact on her career or public image as they have a lot of support from their fan base.